Part Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Domestic Relations
  4. Child Custody and Visitation
  5. Parenting Plans
  6. Part Definitions

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As used in this part, unless the context requires otherwise:

  1. “Dispute resolution” means the mediation process or alternative dispute resolution process in accordance with Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 unless the parties agree otherwise. For the purposes of this part, such process may include: mediation, the neutral party to be chosen by the parties or the court; arbitration, the neutral party to be chosen by the parties or the court; or a mandatory settlement conference presided over by the court or a special master;
  2. “Parenting responsibilities” means those aspects of the parent-child relationship in which the parent makes decisions and performs duties necessary for the care and growth of the child. “Parenting responsibilities,” the establishment of which is the objective of a permanent parenting plan, include:
    1. Providing for the child's emotional care and stability, including maintaining a loving, stable, consistent, and nurturing relationship with the child and supervising the child to encourage and protect emotional, intellectual, moral, and spiritual development;
    2. Providing for the child's physical care, including attending to the daily needs of the child, such as feeding, clothing, physical care, and grooming, supervision, health care, and day care, and engaging in other activities that are appropriate to the developmental level of the child and that are within the social and economic circumstances of the particular family;
    3. Providing encouragement and protection of the child's intellectual and moral development, including attending to adequate education for the child, including remedial or other education essential to the best interests of the child;
    4. Assisting the child in developing and maintaining appropriate interpersonal relationships;
    5. Exercising appropriate judgment regarding the child's welfare, consistent with the child's developmental level and the family's social and economic circumstances; and
    6. Providing any financial security and support of the child in addition to child support obligations;
  3. “Permanent parenting plan” means a written plan for the parenting and best interests of the child, including the allocation of parenting responsibilities and the establishment of a residential schedule, as well as an award of child support consistent with chapter 5 of this title;
  4. “Primary residential parent” means the parent with whom the child resides more than fifty percent (50%) of the time;
  5. “Residential schedule” is the schedule of when the child is in each parent's physical care, and the residential schedule must designate a primary residential parent when the child is scheduled to reside with one (1) parent more than fifty percent (50%) of the time; in addition, the residential schedule must designate in which parent's home each minor child shall reside on given days of the year, including provisions for holidays, birthdays of family members, vacations, and other special occasions, consistent with the criteria of this part; provided, that nothing contained herein modifies any provision of § 36-6-108; and
  6. “Temporary parenting plan” means a plan for the temporary parenting and the best interests of the child, including the establishment of a temporary residential schedule, and the establishment of temporary financial support designed to maintain the financial status quo to the extent possible, consistent with chapter 5 of this title, and the guidelines thereunder.


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